Closer
by Edward the VIII
Summary: A coincidence of massive proportions is what brings back together Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Satsuki. She'd left the village to get power; he'd left the village to get the power to bring her back. And one day, fate and a high profile assassination culminates in the two meeting. An agreement is struck; two weeks is all they have to find out how close they can become. Naruto/Fem. Sasu
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **Well, I'm starting another new story; and this one is going to remain relatively condensed chapter wise. As in, each and every chapter should and will matter to the overall relationship and/or plot, so pay close attention, and try not to dismiss anything as filler, 'kay? :)**

 **A few tags for posterity: angst, friendship, romance, etc. Genderbending from birth, so no 'super special jutsu' that causes Sasuke to become Satsuki. If you're unsure how a Fem. Sasuke would look, I hope any descriptions I use can help you paint a picture of her; otherwise, just type 'Fem. Sasuke' into Google, and pick a picture with which to imagine her as.**

 **I will be hoping to get some reviews on this story, :D. I put quite a bit of work into it, so I'd love, love, _looovee_ to get some reviews from you fine folks! It'll only take around a minute to leave one, ;;).**

 **That's enough from me for now. I think we can go ahead and begin this wild ride, and so... enjoy!**

* * *

 _She had left the village to seek the power to kill her brother._

 _He had left the village to seek the power to bring her back._

 _Two people - different in almost every way, and yet the same in just as many aspects. And now, they were on a crash course to meet each other for the first time since that fateful day, the hour when their lives had changed seemingly permanently._

 _In the end, they would have exactly two weeks to reconnect. Fourteen days with which Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Satsuki will come to realize just how close they could become..._

* * *

The first thing he heard were… rumors. A murmur here, a whispered word there - nothing too overt, but enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. There's nothing to worry about, he reasoned with himself. Surely, they were just exchanging stories of something that had long passed - it couldn't be _her_ …

But the truth became more than obvious after a few hours.

Jiraiya had ducked into a store to grab a few supplies. Naruto had, as per usual, been left outside by the sannin, for no reason other than to not bother the aged man as he picked up the necessary goods.

Uzumaki Naruto kicked at the dirt, a frown creasing his face; God, this was so… boring! It couldn't have been more than five minutes since Jiraiya had went inside of the store, but it had felt like an eternity. After all, Naruto had never been known for his vast amounts of patience - in fact, it was the exact opposite.

He heaved a great sigh, looking from left to right in his effort to find something, _anything_ to distract him.

Naruto's attention was captured by a bird.

It was a dark bird - the same color as the midnight sky, though with a tail feather the color of violet. It sat on top of a power line, beady eyes staring down at the street below.

Another bird came, flapping its wings, landing right beside the dark bird; this one was bright, with a variety of colors that made it stand out like a rainbow. The bird cawed loudly, so loudly that several other people looked up at it for a moment.

The dark bird ruffled its wings in an undignified fashion, before flying across and landing on another power line. And, of course, the colorful bird followed, cawing even louder. The dark bird relocated, and the colorful bird followed, and that cycle continued until the two of them were out of sight…

Naruto frowned slightly.

Jiraiya soon came out, arms empty of anything - evidently, he had stored away all of the newly bought supplies in a storage scroll.

"Let's go get something to eat, brat," Jiraiya said, clapping Naruto on the back. "Where do you want to go?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Naruto protested. "I've never even been to this town!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Neither have I, kid. But sometimes, you've got to use your intuition; that's a lesson you need to learn. I can think of half a dozen restaurants and stands we passed on our way through the town - can you remember any of them?"

The blonde swallowed. "Uh… there was that little place back there. It was a restaurant, I think," Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"There you go," Jiraiya said encouragingly. "We can grab a bite to eat then settle in for the night."

There wasn't much else to be said - they backtracked a little, went inside the restaurant and found themselves a table, then figured out what they were to order. The waitress came by, took their orders, came back with their drinks a few minutes later, and then they were left to their own devices.

Jiraiya was busy scribbling something in a small notepad. "I think I'll have to move him out of there," he murmured absentmindedly to himself, tapping a pen against his cheek. "There's no question that he's already compromised - it's only a matter of time before they try to haul him in…"

His teacher was going to be distracted for a while, Naruto figured. It wasn't exactly a bad thing, but Jiraiya took his spy network extraordinarily seriously. Maybe not seriously enough if he was tempted to take out a notepad full of sensitive information in the middle of a restaurant. But then again, who was going to be able to get the drop on _Jiraiya_ of all people?

Naruto sighed once more. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, ero-sennin," he said, sliding out of the booth and standing up.

He wasn't really going to the bathroom - he just wanted a moment alone to think. Checking behind him to make sure that Jiraiya wasn't looking in his direction, Naruto took a detour out of the restaurant, to stand on the sidewalk outside and breath in the fresh air.

It was dusk - the streets weren't empty, but they had certainly dwindled in population. Naruto leaned against the wall beside the door, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wood.

There were two men beside him, standing there without a care in the world, idly smoking a cigarette each.

"- so, as I was saying, my sister was _freaking out_ a little bit ago," one of them said - they were quite loud, and despite the fact that Naruto wasn't trying to eavesdrop on them… well, he heard their entire conversation anyway.

"What was she freaking out about?" the other man asked.

"There was uh… an assassination a few towns over. Apparently some entrepreneur made some enemies. Nobody knows _how_ he made those enemies, but I guess it doesn't really matter because some girl went ahead and killed him in broad daylight."

"Jeez."

"Yeah, I know. The guy had some bodyguards, though - trained jounin from Kirigakure if I remember correctly. The assassin had a tough time of it… she managed to get away, but they said she took a few hits before she got out of there."

"Must be one tough lady, to be able to escape from a few _jounin_."

"I guess so. But… well, the reason my sister was freaking out was because the assassin might - and I mean _might_ , so don't go spreading it around… she might have been Uchiha Satsuki."

The other man inhaled suddenly - Naruto _froze_ in his tracks.

"How did they figure that out?"

"Well, the girl was wearing a mask to cover up her features. But they said that you could see a pair of red eyes behind the mask - and that one of the jounin who made eye contact with her fell unconscious where he stood. Sure sounds like the sharingan, doesn't it?"

"I guess. When did it happen?"

"Not too long ago. Maybe two or three hours at most - my sister was bugging me when I was getting ready to come out and meet you guys…"

The conversation lapsed - the men finished their smoking and went back inside the restaurant. But Naruto couldn't bring himself to move from that spot: he was still, so still that one could have mistaken him for a sculpture.

' _Satsuki?'_ he thought.

They had spoken about it as if it was recent: her being sighted only a few towns away. What were the chances that she was nearby? What were-

No… no, she was probably long gone by now.

But it couldn't hurt to check, could it?

Naruto formed a hand seal - and two dozen clones appeared in a semi-circle in front of him.

"Just… look around," Naruto told them. "Split up and go check the towns around here; be sure to come back if you find something out, alright?"

"Sure!" they choursed back at him. And then they went off, flinging themselves onto a rooftop. Naruto heard loud talking from atop the roof - it took them a moment to group up, but soon they departed in groups of three, to start the search for Satsuki.

Naruto brushed a blonde spike out of his eyes.

He would have to wait and see if they could come up with something - but he doubted it.

After all, what were the chances that Satsuki had stuck around?

Naruto shrugged, before stepping back through the door and into the restaurant. It seemed that Jiraiya hadn't even noticed his absence, and with a heavy heart, he slid back into his seat.

He gazed about the place.

It was packed, from door to door, to the point where one could find every sort of person in the Elemental Nations within the restaurant's walls.

A man sat near the entrance, and a woman walked up to him - they embraced, linked hands, and were lead to a table by their waiter. At the table opposite Naruto and Jiraiya's, a woman showed a man how to properly cut a steak. In a corner of the restaurant, a couple were making out with each other, so close that they seemed to forget where they were - a public place. Naruto could see a man teaching a woman how to properly fold a napkin. At the table right in front of him, Naruto saw a woman instructing a man on how to properly use a pair of chopsticks.

The entire room seemed to pause for a moment, as an argument broke between a couple. After a moment of heated exchange, yells so loud as to nearly shake the earth, the woman stormed out - the man followed closely after, but it seemed he lost her in the crowd outside of the restaurant.

And, then, there was a couple… just talking. They looked happy to be together, smiling at each other, holding hands beneath the table and sneaking kisses in between bites of food.

"You alright, kid?" Jiraiya asked, at long last looking up.

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled. "I'm fine."

A long night awaited him… and his clones.

* * *

She grunted as she wound the bandage around and around the open wound on her arm.

"God," she cursed, closing her eyes and turning her head. Clearly, she had gotten sloppy - Orochimaru or _Itachi_ wouldn't have gotten injuries like that from anyone less than an S-ranked ninja. And those jounin might have been A-rank at the very most, but the gap between A and S was massive indeed… she still had a ways to go, it seemed.

The girl took a deep breath, deciding to move on to the wound on her leg. She pulled up the leg of her pants, teeth clenching together as open air brushed against the wound on her calf. In all actuality, she'd gotten lucky - an inch or two to the side and her artery would have been severed.

She was no medical ninja - the most she knew were rudimentary measures. But she couldn't risk going to a hospital, not when she had done something so high profile nearby - hospitals took records, lots of them, and no henge would stand up to a doctor's prodding and poking.

Sure, she could patch up her wounds, stop the bleeding, maybe use some of her precious medical supplies to make sure nothing serious happened. But after that, she undoubtedly needed time to recover; Orochimaru's hideout was dozens of kilometers away, and she'd barely made it two or three kilometers considering her injuries… yes, she would need to find a place to rest.

But where? A cave or a tree, when there were authorities hunting her at that very moment?

There weren't many options - but in the end, Uchiha Satsuki decided to hide in plain sight.

She finished dressing her injuries, getting them to a point where she was at _least_ not trailing blood behind her. A soldier pill or two kept her on her feet - and once she was ready to go, she went. There was a town not too far away from where she was, and she remembered bypassing it on her way to her mission.

That would have to be her destination. It put a decent, if still dangerous distance between her and where those Kiri mercenaries had been - and she couldn't make it more than a kilometer past it in all likelihood.

The town was a wide expanse: decently sized, with plenty of people and plenty of recreational activities. It seemed to be a tourist hub of sorts, and as a result, there were plenty of hotels that she could use.

A 'no questions asked' hotel would be too dangerous - if the mercenaries happened upon the town and suspected that she was hiding there, those types of hotels would be the first place they'd check. No, something a little more upper-class would be necessary - and thankfully, Satsuki was afforded numerous advantages that still allowed her to remain incognito.

Satsuki waited a little longer, until darkness had properly fallen. It had been the apex of afternoon when she'd carried out her mission - to escape had taken an hour, to dress her wounds another. It was late, and she didn't have much time before her soldier pill wore off.

She walked right into the lobby of a hotel, maintaining a normal posture despite the pain ringing through her body. Bold moves would be needed to make sure she wasn't in danger; she had her sharingan activated from the moment she stepped through the doors. The doorman, the receptionist, a guard or two, a family that was ahead of her in line - she put them all under her sharingan's influence.

Not to affect them, of course. Just to make them forget that she'd ever been there - no, all the receptionist would remember was checking a mousy brown haired woman named 'Haruno Sakura' into room two hundred and eleven. And that 'Haruno Sakura' had explicitly asked not to be disturbed until she was ready to check out.

By that point, however, Satsuki could feel the energy she'd gotten from that soldier pill ebbing. And God, she was _ecstatic_ that this place had an elevator - lugging herself up the stairs would have been a death sentence. She pulled at the sleeve of the cloak she wore, grimacing at the increasing wetness that she felt; a change of her bandages would be necessary soon, she thought.

Her room beckoned. She opened it up with a keycard the receptionist had given her, throwing herself across the threshold of the door and slamming it behind her.

Satsuki panted.

She allowed the cloak to fall to the floor, grimacing as she took inventory - her clothes, torn in places and plain inoperable. She could still wear them perhaps, but blood-stained garments with holes and rips would likely make her stand out.

Satsuki ran a hand through her hair - God, she was in a mess. She'd done assassination missions before, and she had done them _flawlessly_ … why did this entrepreneur in particular have to hire half a dozen mercenaries from Kirigakure, who were at _least_ jounin level? Satsuki couldn't say his parnanoia wasn't founded, but it certainly made his killer have a much tougher time about it. Lucky her.

Carefully, she began to undo the bandages wrapped around her arm - and a _gasp_ spilled from her lips as the wound _throbbed_. "Great… great… great…!" she hissed.

First order of business: to write and send a letter via hawk to Orochimaru that she would need some time to recuperate. Secondly, she would need a shower to wash off the grime and blood. And thirdly… she needed to figure out what that feeling in her gut was: a tingling sensation, one that made her fingers jittery and her eyes widen slightly.

Something was coming; she could feel it. But she didn't have time to worry about gut feelings.

Night had already dawned; it was perhaps an hour or two after dusk. As she pulled out numerous medical supplies from her rucksack, Satsuki allowed her guard to fall just a tad. She _should_ be safe - with her consciously muting her chakra signature, and little to no paper trail to show that she was here, Satsuki felt secure in her place.

But, there was a weak spot.

The clones of Naruto had adopted an innovative strategy - with their relatively small numbers, searching through forests wouldn't give them any advantage. Instead, they split off to go to different towns. It was fool's play for a shinobi to slip into the numerous hotels and towns that dotted them - and Naruto didn't slack in questioning the receptionists and innkeepers and _anyone and everyone_ who could know where Satsuki was. All he had to do was claim he was on a 'mission' for Konoha in order to get them all to acquiesce to his demands.

In a certain upper-class hotel, a little after noon the next day...

"No, sir, I'm afraid that I did not see anyone matching her description enter," the receptionist said.

Naruto grinned. "Do you think I could take a look at your log?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "I don't think…"

"It's for an official investigation," he said. "And besides, no one has to know."

The woman nodded after a moment. "Alright, I suppose," she said, pulling out a small black book. "It's all in here; read it quickly, please."

Naruto took the book from her, and flipped it over. Floor one was clear of any suspicious names - but floor two…

He tapped a finger on room two hundred and eleven.

' _Well, well, well,'_ he thought. It seemed as if a brief burst of nostalgia - or a lack of creativity - had sold Satsuki out. It was a pity, too, because anyone but the Konoha Twelve would have been fooled by the name.

After all, Naruto was well aware that Haruno Sakura wasn't _anywhere_ near there - he'd gotten a letter from her not two days ago saying that she was stuck inside the village for a month. And the book said that 'Haruno Sakura' had only checked in the previous night.

"Thank you for your help," Naruto said, handing the woman the book. "I think I've seen all I need to see."

She nodded, and smiled at his back as he turned and walked right out of the hotel.

Naruto muted his chakra signature, as much as he could hope to manage considering his potent reserves. It would have to suffice; he leapt up, under the cover of dark. Every hotel room had a balcony - and on the second floor, he went from balcony to balcony, peering through the windows. Most of the rooms were empty, or people who were clearly not Satsuki.

And then, there she was; seated at a table, diligently working at a wound on her calf.

He swore all the air vanished from his lungs.

In fact, he _froze_ \- he froze to the point that he fell backward and nearly fell over the railing; actually, he did, but he managed to catch himself at the last moment. Satsuki glanced up, but there was nothing to be seen, as he had already jumped down.

Of course, Naruto wasn't aware that he could simply dispel and let the original know about what he had discovered. There was quite the journey in front of him, to head back to the town where Naruto and Jiraiya were staying. It would take a few hours at least, and it would likely be dark by the time the original returned.

But Satsuki's location was known now.

And it would only be a matter of time before the blonde Uzumaki came after his 'friend'.

* * *

Really, the very thing that should have tipped Satsuki off was that gut feeling she had. Her gut had never lied to her - and right now, it was borderline _screaming_ at her to vacate the hotel and get away from the town as soon as possible.

But she didn't; after all, she still had her wounds, her injuries, not to mention fatigue. Her supply of soldier pills was running low, and her bandages had to be rationed - especially for the wound on her calf, which was rather deep and wouldn't stop bleeding. It wasn't life threatening… hopefully… but she certainly wasn't in any condition to go out and about.

Satsuki took a deep breath, stretching - she leaned back in her chair, the wood creaking, her shirt riding up slightly to reveal a glimpse of her midriff. She'd changed her clothes the previous day, and now wore a spare set of her typical casual outfit: a simple white tank top with black slacks, her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. It wasn't as if anyone was going to see her until she was recovered, Satsuki reasoned.

She allowed the slightest of yawns to spill from her lips; Satsuki had no sedatives on hand to send her spiraling into a dreamless sleep, and her wounds throbbing with pain all through the night did little to help her already precarious sleeping schedule.

There was little to do. She had already cleaned and polished her sword after the assassination, and it wasn't as if she had planned to spend more than a few nights away. There were no books she could read, training was out of the question… for the most part, she was reduced to tedious boredom.

Satsuki had sent a letter to Orochimaru a little earlier, but there was still no reply. It had been a simple message, detailing the success of her mission and her injury, and the expected recovery time. Nothing more.

She finished stretching, setting her hands back down. Softly, she patted the bandage on her arm - thankfully, the bleeding _there_ had seemed to stem slightly. She would need more dressing sooner or later; but she _was_ in luck - unless this town in particular was trapped a century in the past, there should have been bandages in every other market.

Another deep breath.

There was that feeling in her gut again, a telltale sign that-

A knock sounded at the door.

She didn't jump, she didn't freeze in fear… she went still, deathly still.

That chakra…

There was no mistaking it.

Satsuki rose to her feet, and grasped her sword from where she had leaned it against the counter. Limping slightly, her calf wound still throbbing painfully, she made her way to the door - and peered through the small hole. The chakra was gone; the hallway outside of her room was barren.

But she knew that _he_ hadn't just disappeared - it was a ruse, a trick.

And her intuition was more than correct; the knock at the door had been a distraction. A shadow clone sent there to divert her attention from where the _real_ Naruto was entering the room - via the balcony, which was essentially an open invitation into the hotel room. Of course, Satsuki had booby trapped that place. But Naruto managed to avoid it, throwing himself to the side of the row of kunai that was flung from the shadows - he rolled, did a somersault of sorts, and landed right in the middle of the living room.

Naruto drew himself to his fullest height - several inches taller than the Uchiha heiress at the very _least_. But height did not mean everything; and Satsuki did not appear daunted in the least.

She turned around, sword clasped in her hand, that signature sharingan spinning in her eyes; she showed not an ounce of weakness, not allowing her injuries to make her appear fragile in front of _him_.

There was at least three meters between the two of them.

"Satsuki," Naruto said.

"Naruto…" Satsuki murmured, extending her sword and pointing the tip at him.

He allowed the slightest of grins to crack his demeanor. "I heard about what you did," he said.

"And that is?"

"The assassination," Naruto mumbled. "Killing some guy in broad daylight, and almost getting yourself killed in the process."

"I didn't almost get myself killed," she said lowly. "As you can see, I'm fine. Now - what are you doing here? Orochimaru told me that you were off training with the sannin Jiraiya." She tilted her head to the side, red eyes gleaming - he was careful to avoid eye contact. "Let me guess; he doesn't know you're here?"

Naruto swallowed. "No," the blonde said, after a moment of measured silence. "He doesn't."

"Hmm."

Satsuki lowered her blade ever so slightly.

"Is there a reason behind that?" she asked, once more raising her sword up. "You would be wrong to assume that you could bring me back to the village on your own."

"I- well, I _want_ to bring you back to the village, Satsuki," Naruto muttered. "But you're-" He gestured to her bandaged arm, to her calf.

Her eyes narrowed. "You did your research. I'm impressed," Satsuki admitted "I shouldn't have let my guard down. But that doesn't matter; you won't be _forcing_ me to go anywhere, Naruto?"

"I don't want to _force_ you to do anything," he ground out. "But you're - well… I… I…"

"What is it?"

Naruto drooped visibly. "I- miss my friend," he muttered, still not looking at her though it was from embarrassment this time, not him trying to avoid her sharingan.

Satsuki frowned; but she did not say anything.

"Satsuki?" he said.

"What?" she bit out. "Do you think appealing to my nostalgia is going to get me to come with you?"

"Aha!" Naruto declared. "So you do admit there's at least _something_ there?"

"There isn't," Satsuki ground, fingers tightening around the hilt of her blade. "Nothing that matters in the grand scheme of things, at least."

"Hmph." Naruto folded his arms across his chest. "You're in denial."

"A blatant lie," Satsuki said. "But if I was? It does not change a single thing, Naruto. Nothing does - you know _exactly_ what matters to me most."

He stared at her, desperately attempting to remain impassive, and yet the cracks began to shine through his face. He was angry… and hurt… and touched… and _enraged_. All at once, and only one person could have ever accomplished that feat.

"Satsuki…"

"Naruto."

She tilted her head to the side, and raised her sword up.

"I spared you once," she admitted. "But will I do it again?"

He scoffed. "Of course you will," Naruto said. "After all - who else can get under your skin more than me?"

"You know who."

"But he's not around," Naruto pointed out. "And besides, that's in a bad way. You know that all I mean is good for you, Satsuki."

"Perhaps," she said.

There was a moment of silence, the kind that one could struggle to cut with a naginata.

And then, a bird swooped in through the open balcony door, soaring above Naruto's head and landing on Satsuki's arm.

It offered her a scroll that it carried - Satsuki took it. The bird bowed its head, flapped its wings, and took off back through the window.

"Allow me to read this," Satsuki said, leaning the sword against her leg. She unfurled the scroll, and began to scrutinize the contents.

Naruto stared at her, tension in every pore of his body. There were very few people that Satsuki could be receiving messages from: and Naruto knew that the vast majority of that list were people loyal to Orochimaru. Or, the man himself.

She was done reading the letter after a moment; he could tell, as she lowered it slightly, and her eyes no longer went from left to right in a scanning fashion.

"What did it say?" Naruto asked, frowning.

Satsuki glanced at him for a moment; she pursed her lips together for a moment, as if pondering what he had said. Then, she took a few steps forward, pressed the letter into his hand, and then took a few steps back to her original position.

He turned the letter over and began to read.

It wasn't a long letter.

 _You should not have underestimated that man. I warned you that he could have a strong bodyguard, and yet, as usual, you choose not to listen. Your injury is unfortunate; and just as unfortunately, I'm afraid K is far too busy to make his way out to you. You will need to lay low, and recover on your own until you are strong enough to come back - perhaps that will teach you to ignore my warnings. I will give you approximately two weeks to come back here: after that, I will assume that your loyalties have shifted._

 _O_

"Who's 'O'?" Naruto asked. "And 'K'?"

"Orochimaru is O, and Kabuto is K," Satsuki muttered. "It's not exactly protocol for S ranked nukenin to sign their names on the letters they send, you…" She paused for a moment - and Naruto smirked.

"You were about to call me an idiot, weren't you?"

"No."

He chuckled.

"You know what this means?" Naruto said, waving the letter in his hand.

"What?"

"You've got exactly two weeks of vacation!" he told her.

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly on 'vacation'," Satsuki murmured. "Neither am I inclined to take one, either. I will recover, then I will-"

"Oh, come on!" Naruto whined. "Are you kidding me? This is the perfect opportunity!"

"For what?"

"For us to be friends again!"

Satsuki folded her arms across her chest. "You're deluded if you think that I'm going to be your friend, Naruto."

Naruto took a threatening step forward - Satsuki's hand reached out, picking up her blade and raising it once more.

"How about this," Naruto murmured lowly. "I don't want to do this: but you and I _both_ know that you're not a match for ero-sennin, not yet at least. And if I go to him right now, and tell him that you're a town over…"

"I would stop you," Satsuki said confidently.

"And if I don't return to him, and he gets worried, and he hunts me down and finds you?" Naruto told her.

She was silent.

"What's your point?" Satsuki murmured. "I could simply take off."

"With those injuries?"

"How do you know I won't deceive you and take off the moment I've recovered?"

"I'd find you."

"Would you?"

"I would."

There was a confidence to his voice - that all consuming _smugness_ ; because he had found her once before, and now, she was closer than he had been to her since their fateful battle. And if Satsuki knew Naruto, and she knew him pretty well, then nothing would stop him in his quest. Nothing short of death, and she couldn't help the way her teeth clenched when she thought of Naruto's cold, lifeless body.

And yes, even Satsuki could admit that Naruto could find her. There was a decent chance of it at least, considering Orochimaru was not exactly 'subtle' for the most part, and he would undoubtedly send her on more high profile missions.

This time, it was just him. But if he brought the sannin Jiraiya along with him?

She would be finished. It wasn't even a matter of discussion.

Perhaps her best option _was_ to deceive him; to trick him into thinking that she would go along with his plan, then leave the instant she could. It was her only chance… incapacitating him then and there would bring Jiraiya down to bear on her, and regardless, she was in no condition to travel.

An agreement would have to be reached. A way to delay the moronic blonde until she was capable of eluding his grasp.

"What do you propose then, Naruto?"

"What?"

Satsuki's lip curled. "I said, _what do you propose_."

Naruto swallowed.

"This letter says that Orochimaru is giving you two weeks to come back to him: two weeks where you could be anywhere, and he wouldn't care." He paused. "So, how about this; you stay here, in this town, for those two weeks. I'll convince ero-sennin to stay in this area. And… well, we can hang out together, we can spend time together, just like the old days."

"And at the end of those two weeks?"

"You decide whether you want to come back to Konoha with me and ero-sennin, or go back to Orochimaru," Naruto said.

Satsuki chuckled. "You expect me to believe that you'll just let me walk away?"

"I won't," he murmured. "But that's because you _won't_ walk away. I'll convince you to come back, one way or another, Satsuki."

"How can you be so sure, Naruto."

"Because I _know_ that I can convince you," he said vehemently.

She clicked her teeth.

Finally, at long last, Satsuki lowered her sword.

"Two weeks," she said.

Naruto grinned. And it was a smile so bright, so warm, so infectious that most women would have melted before the blonde.

But Satsuki merely stared at him impassively.

"I am going to turn in for the night," she said.

"Alright, but that just means I'm going to come back first thing in the morning," Naruto told her.

"That's fine," she grumbled. "Now get out."

Naruto was half tempted to try and hug her, but he felt that would be pushing his luck. Besides - he already felt more lucky than he had in years! Two weeks with Satsuki, two weeks that he could spend worming his way back into her heart, and convincing her to come back to Konoha.

He would succeed. He _had_ to succeed.

"I'll see you later?"

"The window… _may_ be unlocked after you leave here, and left unlocked overnight."

"May?" Naruto said. "If you lock me out of here, then I'm gonna bust the door down!"

"I'll make sure you're the one who pays for the damages then," she retorted.

He grinned.

"See you," Naruto said, giving her a wave.

Then, body pulsing with energy, he bolted out to the balcony, and _leapt_ off of it - she watched as his figure soared through the air, before he skillfully landed on a rooftop opposite her hotel. He gave her another wave in the distance, before leaping to another rooftop, then another, and soon he disappeared from sight altogether.

Satsuki stepped forward, walking to the balcony. She placed her hands on the railing, staring out into the night, the wind whipping through her hair - her ponytail swung from side to side, and her clothes rippled.

Her fingers clutched the railing tighter, and she crouched slightly, as if preparing to jump over it…

But the pain in her arm returned; as did the pain in her calf. Her exhaustion was still evident. Her injuries.

She couldn't leave.

Naruto would be back in the morning.

And in all likelihood, every morning for the next fourteen days.

Satsuki stared off into the distance,

She took a deep breath.

"You're such an idiot…" she ground out, eyes flickering with sheer, intense _hate_.

Two weeks. Two weeks. Two… weeks.

Satsuki turned, and stepped back into the hotel room.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **One chapter to go; how many to come? I know exactly when and how this story will end. And it's only a matter of time before you guys know as well.**

 **Thank you for reading this story, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I put quite a bit of work into this chapter, as I said in the first A/N, so I hope it came out well. If you _did_ enjoy it, how about you be an awesome person (as if you aren't already) and drop a review for me? It would do me a great service, and I geniunely love the kind of feedback you guys give me. Thank you!**

 **Well, until next time, with the second chapter of this or another chapter of a story of mine that you may or may not be following. Have a nice day, and cheers!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but I had quite a lengthy spell of writer's block. I, for one, blame my work schedule, but you can call me a lazy bastard if that makes you feel better. So long as you review, favorite, and follow the story, ;).**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

She needed medicine.

Not antibiotics or morphine, nothing… nothing _serious_. Just painkillers — or something, anything that would help to ease the throbbing, burning pain of her wounds.

For the first time in her life, Satsuki silently wished that Kabuto was around. Slimy bastard he was, but a good medical ninja he most certainly was. She had seen him heal wounds that looked beyond fatal… he could mend bones, dress anything from scratches to limbs being torn off… his skill was beyond impressive, even if she would never tell him that. Orochimaru wanted her kept in tip-top condition, and Kabuto's loyalty to that snake and his near-unparalleled abilities meant that he was the one operating on her more often then not. Now, it wasn't that she was hurt often — but in a world where a scratch from a poisoned kunai could fell the strongest of shinobi, it was worth it to be cautious.

Satsuki inhaled deeply as she pulled on her cloak, allowing it to conceal her lithe frame; a hood was pulled over her head soon after. With her sword easily hidden beneath the cloak and her sharingan ready to be activated at a moment's notice, she was ready.

Of course, she couldn't deny the… _irritation_ that welled up in the back of her mind. It was what, noon? He had said that he'd be here first thing in the morning! And yet, he wasn't.

But that didn't matter. He wasn't here to help her after all; all he wanted to do was drag her back to that damn village, whether she wanted to or not, whether it was _best_ for her or not…

Satsuki shook her head. No time to be bitter — she couldn't afford to revive old feelings that had plagued her for the first few months with Orochimaru. And she had _just_ managed to banish them from her mind, too. Damn.

The Uchiha sighed. It was time to go.

She opened up a window, eased herself through the opening and leapt down into the town, wincing all the way.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his chin, absentmindedly staring outside his window. It was somewhat cloudy, and though _some_ of the sun's beams still shone into the room, it was considerably dimmed. Visually distinct rays hit the opposite wall, specks of dirt floating in them. His other hand supported his body weight, finger slowly rubbing back and forth across a crack in between the floorboards.

"What a dream," he pondered. "What a _fucking_ dream." Naruto slowly shook his head, sighing.

His mind always saw fit to play games on him; as if dreams about chirping birds and the feeling of having his lung penetrated weren't enough… now, it seemed as if his brain saw fit to grant him _good dreams_. About _her_.

He'd talked to her; he could remember every detail of her pale exterior. Quite keenly, he thought about how her beauty had seemed to triple since he had last seen her… but he also thought about how blank and expressionless she appeared, not an emotion betraying her marble statue-like exterior.

It was too bad it was all a dream.

There was the slightest hint of doubt, tingling at the back of his spine — it had been too real, it had been too lifelike… but before his brain could come to a complete conclusion as to that, he was knocked from his thoughts by the door being thrown open.

"Morning, brat!" Jiraiya streamed into the room, as tall and imposing as ever yet positively _vibrating_ with that all-too-familiar warmth.

Naruto groaned, falling back onto the thin mat he'd gone to sleep on with a soft plop. "Why are you bustin' down my door so early, ero-sennin?" he whined.

The sannin grinned. "I like the look of this town, kid, so I think we'll be staying here a few days. That doesn't mean we'll be slacking off, though! Guess what time it is?" His grin only widened as a look of exasperation overtook Naruto's features.

"Ugh," Naruto groaned, flopping onto his side, facing toward the window and away from Jiraiya. "Didn't we train like… the day before last? Do we really need to do it again so soon?"

"No, it wasn't the day before last. It was the day before last before last before last! Come on…" Jiraiya swept forward, putting a heel on Naruto's hip and flipping him onto his back once more. "No time to be lazy; up and at'em!"

A hand was clasped around his bicep, and like a ragdoll Naruto was yanked to his feet by Jiraiya. The blonde staggered slightly, the blood in his legs not quite flowing yet — he leaned against the window sill for a moment, shaking his feet.

He looked outside the window. A black bird was perched on the other side of the glass, staring at him curiously. Naruto stared at it; after a moment, it flapped its wings and took off — his gaze followed the feathered creature until it had whipped out of sight.

' _It was such a nice dream…'_ he thought bitterly. _'Why couldn't it have been real?'_

He felt a hand grab his collar, before he was yanked back from the window.

"Come on, brat," Jiraiya said. His tone was energetic as ever. "No time to waste; get dressed and meet me right outside the door. If you don't come out in five minutes I'll _make_ you get dressed… understood?"

"Uh huh," Naruto mumbled.

It was funny how their teacher-student relationship worked.

Sometimes, Naruto would be _begging_ Jiraiya to train him, day in and day out, every five minutes or every minute if he had the breath for it. He'd pester and pester the sannin until he reluctantly trained him… only to start the cycle all over again the next day.

Other times, Jiraiya would quite literally have to kick Naruto out of bed to get him to train, like he was doing now. The blonde was just like that — he was either fired up or he was the opposite. And, as Jiraiya had _long_ since noted, the blonde tended to have brief spells of energy followed by (relatively) long belts of borderline depression at the very mention of a certain Uchiha.

Jiraiya had stopped even mentioning Satsuki by this point. He knew that ignoring the problem wouldn't help it — but he couldn't deal with seeing his protege look so glum, especially not over a girl who, in his opinion, didn't deserve his attention let alone his affection.

The white haired man stood outside of Naruto's room until approximately four minutes and fifty-two seconds later, the blonde clattered out, orange and black jumpsuit hanging loosely off of his frame.

"Alright," Naruto mumbled, yawning in an exaggerated manner. "Let's go train, ero-sennin."

* * *

Keeping her head down and her profile low was easy. The real problem was disguising the pain that coursed through her veins with every step she took. It was _excruciating_ to put it lightly.

Once the adrenaline from her grand escape and encounter with Naruto had worn off, Satsuki came to a frightening realization: she really was injured. Badly. Only the cloak she wore hid the blood that seeped through her bandages uninhibited; only the cloak hid her limp.

The medicine wasn't difficult to acquire. But, as previously stated, she was no medical professional… and for obvious reasons — like a team of irate policemen searching after a wounded woman matching her description — she couldn't barge into a doctor's office and demand that he or she write him up a prescription. Well, technically she _could_ with a healthy application of genjutsu, but there were too many risks involved; it was best to play it safe. And playing it safe meant settling for the strongest painkillers she could get over the counter. Tucking the plastic bag into her cloak, Satsuki hurried out of the store. The cashier's rushed- "Have a nice day!" fell on deaf ears, for the ring of the bell attached to the door drowned out the sound of the boy's voice.

The blood drained from her face as she bent her knees. She had planned to take to the rooftops — but that clearly was out of the question, owing to her injuries.

So she walked back to the hotel; or, more accurately, stumbled back. She had to tear off a part of her shirt and wrap it around her calf, as the blood had soaked through her bandage and she _couldn't_ leave a trail right back to where she was staying.

Once she got to the hotel, however, she recognized that she _had_ to summon the strength to leap up to her room. She couldn't risk going through the lobby again.

It took quite literally everything she had to get the strength to leap up to the balcony — and even then she didn't manage to clear it. She grasped the railing, and ended up having to pull herself over and onto the balcony proper.

Stumbling and staggering, the last of the Uchiha fell into the hotel room.

She popped the painkillers open, took some, and by God, did they-

Do nothing to ebb her pain.

Only sheer willpower stopped her from taking more then and there, which would have been a very bad idea.

Satsuki grit her teeth.

"Fuck…" she growled, swiping the roll of bandages she'd bought from the plastic bag. Falling down onto the couch, the young Uchiha went through the agonizing process of rebandaging her wounds, stripping off blood-soaked gauze and flinging it away from her, haphazardly yanking the new bandages around her wounds and cutting it off with her teeth.

It was a patchwork job at best. Any respectable doctor, shinobi or civilian, would have turned _green_ at how poorly she wrapped up her wounds… but by now, her strength was fading. Tiredness ebbed at every one of her bones.

Truly, she tried to not slip away. She tried to summon another adrenaline rush. But, it was a lost cause… she was gone.

She laid her head back. The roll of bandages slipped from her hand, her last wound only half-covered.

Satsuki heaved one last sigh.

Then, the peace of unconsciousness beckoned her.

She was out like a light.

* * *

Sweaty and tired, Naruto stumbled back into his room, cursing his white haired teacher underneath his breath. For all his faults, Jiraiya could be _one hell of a teacher_ when he wanted to be; which wasn't necessarily a good thing for his students. Naruto was a good deal more resilient than any ordinary person, and the fact that he of all people was battered and bruised by the end of the day… well, that likely gave a clue as to the state of destruction Jiraiya's other students must have been in.

No wonder the Yondaime had been so strong, Naruto thought. With a teacher like Jiraiya working him to the bone every day, and with no 'Akatsuki' or spy networks or whatever distracting them…

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. He stepped up to the window, undoing the latch and yanking it open, chipped paint flakes falling down onto the sill.

He stared out, as always engrossed by the night life of the town he and Jiraiya had stopped in. It always amused him how different villages could be — some places had thriving red light districts that dominated a third of the town… other places would shun a girl who 'dared' to wear a skirt that went higher than her knees. Ten miles difference could make for quite the culture shift. This town in particular seemed to be a mixture of the two… there was a brothel or two hiding in plain sight, but at the same time, it seemed more the place for serene romance. More five star restaurants and less strip clubs — less motels and more classy hotels, more parks and picnic areas instead of back alleys or isolated broom closets.

Naruto sighed.

Something had been nudging at the back of his head all day long. Even when he'd been getting his ass kicked by Jiraiya. It was — what was it? A dream? Reality? A forgotten memory? He wasn't sure.

But Satsuki wouldn't leave him alone. All he saw when he closed his eyes was black… black hair that he wanted to stroke and black eyes that haunted his soul.

Was she-

A hotel; a classy hotel. An encounter inside of it. A promise to come back…

… two weeks.

Was it a dream?

If it wasn't, he would never forgive himself if he didn't seize the opportunity in front of him.

He was so, so tired… _exhausted_ , really. But the thought of seeing Satsuki again was waking him up; he stretched his arms, he cracked his knuckles. He formed a hand seal, summoning a shadow clone to masquerade in his stead just in case Jiraiya decided to check up on him.

Then he climbed through the window and out into the village. He remembered the way to Satsuki's hotel… if it was there, it wasn't a dream. If it wasn't there, at least he wouldn't be fraught with the guilt of not even _trying_.

He took to the rooftops…

It was the same balcony.

He leapt up there, landing deftly on said balcony. But, there was a flash of red out of the corner of his eye… he turned slightly, brushing a finger against the railing.

Blood. Logic dictated that she must have smeared it across the metal whenever she had climbed in or out of the apartment, but that logic didn't stop his heart from racing.

Naruto stepped into the darkened hotel room.

He was quiet; he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from calling out _her_ name. The only sound was of his sandals gently gliding across the blue carpet.

There was a shadowy figure, laid out across the sofa.

Naruto blinked a few times, gaze not quite adjusted to the darkness of the room. When the shadow did not become clear to him, he decided to 'speed up' the process — he glanced around the dark room, which was only illuminated by the moonlight that drifted in through the slightly parted curtains.

There was a light switch; he darted towards it, flicking it on with a finger. Then he went back to the once shadowy figure…

… to see Satsuki laying there, on the couch, head raised and a sword clutched in her hand.

But her movements were sluggish. The blade shook violently in her grasp, though sheer willpower kept her from dropping it.

She narrowed her eyes slightly… and after a moment, the tension slowly began to fade from her body. She allowed the sword to drop.

"It's you…" Satsuki mumbled, laying back down on the couch.

"Yeah," Naruto said, worry laced in his tone. He rushed up to her, blue eyes widening. "It- it's me, Satsuki!" He put a hand on her shoulder, and she _recoiled_ … through sheer instinct her fingers reached for her blade. "Jeez — jeez! I didn't know you were hurt this badly…"

He hadn't gotten a good look at her last night. Well, he had, but she'd done a good job of concealing her wounds from him… because _damn_.

A shiver ran down his spine as he saw her blood-soaked bandages.

There was a bottle of painkillers on the table; he picked it up, shaking a little to hear the rattle of pills inside of it.

"How many of these did you take?" Naruto mumbled.

"A few..." Satsuki grumbled.

"How many?" Naruto repeated.

"A few before I… fell asleep," she said. Which was a prideful way to say 'fell unconscious'. "I woke up for a little bit, took some more, than went back to… sleep."

He looked at the warning label, which very clearly said — _take two, then wait at least four hours before taking anymore._

"Did you wait four hours like this thing says?" Naruto asked, pointing to the label.

She blinked. "It felt like four hours," was all Satsuki could get out, before she set her head back down.

It was Naruto's turn to blink this time.

When he had encountered Satsuki, he could- he could _remember_ that feeling he'd had. His heart near thumping out of his chest; his hands clammy, his mind spinning. And when he'd left, he had no idea what might happen when they met once more.

Twenty-four hours ago when he had left this place, he hadn't expected to… waltz in on a Satsuki that was doped up on painkillers, bleeding through various wounds, and couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"This is really bad…" Naruto mumbled.

There was a roll of bandages on the floor beside the couch; he swiped it up. Satsuki once again recoiled as he put his hands near her… but there was nothing to it. He couldn't let her persist with these blood-soaked rags… he yanked them off, averting his gaze at the wounds beneath.

' _What did you do to yourself, Satsuki?'_ he thought.

Well, the answer to that was obvious — he knew _exactly_ what had happened. She had assassinated… no, that was too lenient a wording. She had _murdered_ someone, and been wounded by the victim's guards as she escaped. She-

Fuck.

Murder was wrong, but he couldn't look at Satsuki and think… murderer.

He looked at her, and all he could see was his…

… friend.

Yeah, _friend_.

Before long, her bandages were changed. He had no idea how many painkillers she had taken, so he decided it was probably a good idea to wait like, eight hours or so before she took anymore.

Rising fully to his feet, Naruto looked down at Satsuki's limp form.

He thought she was asleep, and, well, she… kind of was.

A small part of her was still around, one hidden beneath the painkillers and the pain and the total exhaustion.

She'd been in and out ever since she had returned to the apartment. Unable to get up, unable to bring herself to move, but only able to fall asleep in brief spells.

In that time, she had had a lot of time to think.

' _I can't do this on my own,'_ Satsuki realized. _'I'll need food, I'll need new clothing, I'll need water. I need medicine, and so many things… and…'_ Well, today more than anything had proved that she _wasn't_ capable of doing all of that on her own. A brief trip to the pharmacy had left her passed out on the sofa… who knew what else could happen? All it took was one slip up to have her cover blown, and she wasn't going to escape from trained jounin a second time.

She needed _him_.

And that realization stung her pride more than anything.

Satsuki felt herself drift off once again, Naruto still standing above her, staring down at her.

His lips pursed together.

At his side, his hand twitched.

"I have to make sure…" he whispered.

Leaning down… all he did was put his hand in front of her mouth, the blonde shuddering as he felt her breath fan across his palm. He reached his hand forward, thumb brushing against her cheek. Again, she _recoiled_. It seemed insane how much she flinched at the slightest of touches.

But that was all he needed. She was breathing — she was _real_ , she was right here, in the flesh.

He was glad that Satsuki seemed to have fallen back asleep.

Because he was _crying_. Tears streamed down his cheeks and down onto jaw, the salty taste filling his mouth.

Before he could make any more a fool of himself, Naruto walked away. He went into the kitchen, leaning against the counter, having to bite the inside of his cheek to stop choked sobs from escaping his lips.

' _She's here. I can talk to her; she isn't lost yet.'_ Naruto swallowed. _'Now… all I have to do is bring her back.'_

And he would do that no matter what.

* * *

 **Two important realizations here that will dictate the course of the story. If anything, that's what you should remember from this chapter.**

 **Now, before I let ya go, don't forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter. If you had some questions or concerns, you can feel perfectly free to DM me here on FanFiction.**

 **With that, I'll bid you all a good day. Stay tuned for next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

 **Here's chapter three. I hope y'all enjoy it, and be sure to leave a review if you do and tell me what you think.**

* * *

A headache had begun to blossom behind his temple, but he forced himself to ignore it. This was no time to allow his mental exhaustion to get the better of him. He had a job to do.

But how exactly was he supposed to go about it…?

He was no medical ninja. There had been a basic first aid course back in the Academy, but he hadn't paid any attention to it. And Jiraiya wasn't exactly inspiring him to read textbooks on remedying a cold, let alone the injuries Satsuki had suffered.

Naruto ran a hand through his blonde spikes, sparkling white teeth clenched. He was pacing back and forth, like some kind of hyperactive school child. Hands behind his back, eyebrows furrowed… he couldn't help but glance at the slumbering Satsuki every now and then, teeth clenched with worry and anxiety in equal measure.

His heart thumped in his ears.

God.

This was agonizing.

Satsuki was the strong one. She was the one who never backed down, who never turned and ran, who never even considered the thought of giving up. She was _powerful_ , pulsating with drive and ambition.

Seeing her so weak made his stomach clench. It wasn't right; it was unnatural.

He stood, feeling so cold that he was surprised his breath wasn't coming out in clouds of icy vapor.

Naruto crossed the room, dragging a chair behind him. He set it down just beside the blue sofa where Satsuki was fast asleep, sitting himself down in it but a moment later.

He stared at her sleeping face without a hint of shame. It calmed him, somehow. To be able to see her. To know that she was so close. That she couldn't run or jump or do anything to flee while she was in this state of slumber.

Black hair, the color of coal. He'd never touched it before—he wondered if it felt as soft as it looked. Usually she had it done up in a ponytail, but right now it was loose, flowing down her back in a curtain. Her skin was fair, the same color of a fresh set of linen sheets. And Naruto too wondered whether her skin was as soft as it looked. Everything about her was _soft_ , and that felt so wrong to think that he frowned. Satsuki seemed like a wholly different person when she was asleep, compared at least to when she was awake.

' _I wonder what she's dreaming about,'_ Naruto pondered. Did she even have dreams? She'd never spoken of them.

Even back when they were kids. Sakura would share a few of the more interesting dreams she'd have. Kakashi would sometimes quip in with one or two of his own. And Naruto would tell his team about each and every dream he had if Satsuki didn't tell him to shut up.

But Satsuki never spoke a word about what she dreamt of. Not a peep. Naruto knew she woke up in cold sweats sometimes—nightmares. He had them too. Of Zabuza's bloody grin, of Orochimaru looming above in the darkness of the Forest of Death. Of—

 _The sound of a thousand chirping birds drowned out the waterfall beside them._

" _This is the end." Her voice a whisper of death._

Of the worst memory of his life.

Naruto shuddered.

He hated thinking back to that day. The day that—the day that _everything_ , quite literally everything, had gone wrong.

In every way, he had failed.

He wasn't able to beat her and drag her back. He wasn't able to convince her to come back. He wasn't able to delay her long enough for Kakashi to tip the scales in his favor.

All he'd done was nearly die for his trouble.

And Satsuki still walked straight into the arms of Orochimaru.

He blinked.

It took Naruto a moment to realize that he'd leaned forward without realizing, his hot breath fanning across Satsuki's cheek. His hand had curled into a ball, fingernails digging so deeply into his palm that blood had begun to drip down his wrist.

He leaned back, the color draining from his face. Naruto stared, open-mouthed, at his palm. The moment he'd stopped digging into it with his nails, the Kyuubi had begun to work its magic. He couldn't even see the wound any more. But the blood was still there, dripping onto the floor.

Naruto stood up. He near sprinted to the sink, twisting the faucet, throwing his hand beneath the searing hot water. He groaned. With fingernails and elbow grease, he scrubbed the blood off of his hand and wrist.

He turned. Some of it had trailed behind him as he'd ran to the sink; quite a bit of it had pooled just in front of the chair, beside the sofa. Naruto swallowed.

It was so, so quiet as he set to cleaning up the blood he'd spilt. He kept his ears perked; ready to spring at an instant if Satsuki woke up. He didn't want her to see the proof of his weakness.

Naruto swallowed. The paper towels he was using did a poor job of mopping up the crimson liquid, but her persevered and eventually got… most of it cleaned up. Most. He prayed that in her injured state, Satsuki simply wouldn't notice it.

But knowing her… that was all it was. A prayer. She'd notice.

He tossed the sopping wet paper towels into the trash, and put some miscellaneous stuff on top of it to keep it buried. Once that was done, he returned to the chair.

God. Her skin was so pale—had she always been that pale? He wasn't sure. It had been quite a while.

Naruto rubbed his arm anxiously. She'd been out for a while now; surely she had to wake up soon. He was going crazy here with nothing to do. Even if Satsuki's awakening would only unleash a whole new set of problems, it would give him something to do, something to focus on. He had never been one to sit and lose himself in his thoughts. He needed action.

He bit his lip.

' _I can't take it anymore.'_

The blonde reached forth, placing a hand on Satsuki's shoulder. She _tensed_ , enough that Naruto had to resist the urge to flinch. He shook her slightly; not enough to throw her around, but enough that any slumbering person ought to be jolted awake.

But this wasn't any ordinary slumber. Naruto frowned as Satsuki didn't budge.

Eventually, she came around. It took a good minute of shaking, but her eyes _snapped_ open, so suddenly that this time Naruto indeed did flinch. "Shit!" he swore, as Satsuki's fingers locked around his wrist.

"What do you think you're doing…?" she muttered darkly. Her voice was quiet, so soft that he actually strained to hear it.

"Uh…" He wasn't quite sure how to answer that, actually. "Waking you up?"

Her brow knitted together; that peaceful look on her face had faded with the first moment of consciousness.

She merely stared at him in an unnerving manner for a few moments. Naruto squirmed—his face suddenly felt hot.

"Ah," she said. In that infuriating way that made it seem like she knew everything and he knew about as much as an earthworm.

Naruto frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Satsuki let go of his wrist, leaning back. It was clear she had to press her lips together to suppress a groan of pain.

"You got bored and decided to wake me up to alleviate that boredom." It was a simple statement of fact. There wasn't even the tiniest inflection of it being a question.

"No…?" Naruto swallowed. "I—just… ugh. How do you do that?"

She didn't say anything, closing her eyes.

Naruto's frown deepened. "Hey, don't you go to sleep on me again!" He reached his hand forward, only to find Satsuki gripping his wrist again. It seemed a little weaker than before.

"I'm injured, you moron," Satsuki growled. "Let me rest so I can get better. Or is that beyond your capacity to understand?"

If Naruto had fur, it would have bristled. "You can't 'rest' and talk at the same time?" the blonde countered. "Is multitasking beyond the oh-so-great Uchiha Satsuki?"

"It's not," said Satsuki. "The problem being that I don't want to talk to you."

"Well too bad." Naruto smirked in an uncomfortably similar way to the Uchiha beside me. "And you're talking to me right now by the way, _moron_."

Satsuki sighed.

She could recognize when a battle was lost. And until she recovered, it was best to try and stay on Naruto's good side… as unbearable as the idea seemed.

"What would you even want to talk about?" she grumbled. "The weather? How my day's been?"

"Well, it is pretty nice out…"

Satsuki's face darkened.

"... I'm joking!" Naruto said, grinning from ear to ear. "But, like, there's plenty of stuff we could talk about." A pause. "Like—how're things with Orochimaru?"

She turned her head toward him, staring the blonde down. "How do you think?" Satsuki said. "Take a wild fucking guess."

"Not… good…?" was Naruto's response.

Satsuki exhaled. "Yeah. Not good." She shook her head, leaning back once more. "That's a way to put it."

Naruto grimaced. "Alright—maybe we should talk about something else." He literally twiddled his thumbs for a moment, Satsuki having closed her eyes and begun to relax once more. "There _was_ something I'd always wanted to ask you, but never had the chance to."

"What?"

"Back in the academy… when all everyone else knew was like, the henge and a regular clone… you knew how to do that fireball thingy of yours."

"I did."

"How—I mean, uh. Who taught you that?"

There was silence.

The kind of silence that one could almost bite into it. Pungent—it filled the air of the entire room. Cold… Naruto shuddered as Satsuki stared off into the distance listlessly.

"My father." Her fingers twitched—he watched as one of her hands formed half of a seal. "My father taught me how to."

"Oh."

Naruto gulped.

"And—" There really was no going back now; he'd already brought it up. "Did he teach you the, uh, other ones? You know, the one will all the little fireballs… or the one that looks like a dragon or whatever?"

Satsuki's demeanor relaxed a little. Not much, but at least she didn't look as if she were a marble statue anymore.

"No," she said. "I taught those to myself." Another pause, briefer this time. "It took me years to figure out how to do them—even when we graduated from the Academy and became genin, I was still having trouble with those two."

"Really?"

Satsuki's lips were pursed together. "The scrolls detailing how to use those jutsu were meant for use with an instructor to help you. I didn't have one, obviously, so I had to start from scratch. It wasn't until I unlocked the Sharingan that both of those jutsu clicked. After that, I mastered them near immediately."

" _Cool._ " Naruto beamed at her. "I kind of wish I knew how to do those fire jutsu things. They're awesome to watch."

"I could teach you. But I doubt your affinity is fire."

"Affinity?"

Satsuki rolled her eyes. "Crack open a book for once," she said. "Natural affinities and the five elements are taught in the first month of the academy."

"Hey, I know about affinities!" Naruto proclaimed. "But—uh, you know, if you wanted to give me a refresher, I wouldn't mind."

She repressed a snort.

"I'm not going to explain something _that_ simple to you," she said. "If you care that much, then find a book and read up on it."

Naruto frowned. "Why would I read when I have you here?" A pause. "Okay, so affinity… affinity. I know about the elements—fire and water and stuff. How would I find out about my affinity?"

Satsuki glowered at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Any decent sized town will have a shinobi supply store," said Satsuki. "Go there and look for something called 'Chakra Induction Paper'."

"Right now?"

"What else are you doing to be doing?" Satsuki grumbled. "Might as well get it over with so you won't bring it up again."

Naruto patted his pockets. "Okay. I've got some cash on me; I—I'll be right back, I guess."

"Mhm." Satsuki rolled over, closing her eyes once more.

The blonde stood up from his chair. Casting a glance at her, he sighed. And then at a sprint he ran for the balcony, sailing over the railing and descending to the town below at record speed.

* * *

She was right. There _was_ a shinobi supply store, cradled in a corner of the town. It was dingy, dark, and the windows were barred. But it was there. He had gotten there just before it was due to close—dusk had begun to wind down and soon night would come.

Naruto sped through the doors, wincing as a loud and rusted bell rung above his head.

"Heyo," he said to the shopkeep, an old woman that could have been his great-great grandma. "Where's… um… the chakra induction paper?"

The woman raised a wrinkled finger. "To your right," she croaked.

Naruto grinned. He saw it instantly—swiping a pack of ten of them, he didn't even look at the price tag. He tossed it upon the counter, drumming his fingers on the top as the woman rung them up.

"That'll be a thousand ryo."

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a messy, small wad of bills. He counted them. A hundred, two hundred… four hundred, five hundred… eight hundred, nine hundred.

Naruto gulped. "Uh-oh," he said.

"Hmm?"

"I only have nine-hundred ryo…" the blonde sheepishly admitted.

The woman stared at him for a moment.

It was quite the contrast. The lively blonde, limbs pulsing with energy, blue eyes and blonde hair seeming to radiate light. Compared to the wrinkly, battered, old woman who had see each of the shinobi wars and had lived to tell the tale.

She pushed the pack of chakra paper toward him, taking the bills he'd set on the counter.

"Give me the rest as soon as you can," the woman said. "Preferably within the day."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Thank you, baa-chan!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. "I swear I'll pay you back!"

Taking the chakra paper and pocketing it, he sprinted out the door. The bell rung behind him; the woman returned to what she'd been doing before.

* * *

Naruto ran full pelt back to Satsuki's hideout. Leaping onto the balcony, he was met with yet another surprise.

Satsuki was not only awake, but she was sitting up.

She looked up at him. "Those drugs finally wore off," the girl mumbled. "My head doesn't feel so… fogged up anymore."

Naruto grinned. "I got the chakra paper!" he said. "What do I do with it?"

Satsuki looked up at him. "Open it, take out a piece of the paper, then put a tiny bit of chakra into it. Just a bit. No more than you'd use for a bunshin."

There was the tearing of plastic. Naruto pulled out a piece of paper, tossing the rest of the pack onto the counter. He held it in front of him, staring at it intently.

He took a deep breath.

' _Just a bit. Just a bit.'_

He opened his eyes.

The paper had… cut in half?

"Ah," Satsuki said vaguely. "Your affinity is wind, then."

Naruto blinked. "Wind?" he mumbled. "Really?"

"The paper doesn't lie."

"What's yours?"

Satsuki closed her eyes, exhaling slightly.

"Not what you might think," said Satsuki. "Give me one of those papers."

Naruto took one of the pack he'd tossed onto the counter, handing it to her. Within a second, the paper had crinkled up in her hand—once he'd had enough time to see it, she balled it up and toss it away.

"Lightning," she said.

"Lightning? Not—"

"No, not fire." Satsuki cut him off. "I didn't know my affinity was lightning until Kakashi and I started training for the third stage of the Chunin exams all that time ago. Until then, I'd assumed it was fire." She was silent after that.

Naruto flexed his fingers. _'Wind, huh?'_ he thought. _'Cool.'_

"I kinda remember some of the stuff they said about the elements in the academy," said Naruto. "Doesn't wind like… do something with fire?"

Satsuki stared him dead in the eye. "Yes," she said. "Fire and wind are unique in the aspect that they compliment each other. If you were to use a wind jutsu in conjunction with my fireball for instance, it would enlarge the fireball and multiply its destructive power."

Naruto grinned. "Cool," he said. "Does wind do anything with lightning?"

Satsuki frowned slightly.

"The lightning element is _weak_ to wind," she said.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"So, if I had a super strong wind jutsu, I could beat your chidori?"

"I suppose so."

"Awesome!" Naruto said, his grin widening. "Know any wind jutsu you could teach me?"

Satsuki opened her mouth—then, she paused. Naruto stared at her expectantly.

"I do, actually," she said after a few moments. "Not many, but one or two."

"Ooh! Can you teach them to me? Can you, can you?" Naruto almost felt like clapping his hands together like a giddy child.

Satsuki scowled.

"Don't you have a sensei that should be teaching you this stuff?" she said. "Surely _Jiraiya of the Sannin_ could teach you much better than I could."

Naruto folded his arms across his chest, huffing.

"His teaching is boring," he said. "He always insists on going over super basic stuff… you know, kicks and punches and sweeps and stuff like that. Not to mention we're traveling all the time so the Akatsuki can't track us. It's kinda hard to train when three-fourths of your day is either sleeping or walking."

Satsuki shook her head. _'There's probably something else to it,'_ she thought. _'That man trained the Yondaime Hokage for God's sake. Is it Naruto himself? Or something else.'_

Not that she cared.

"Fine," Satsuki grunted. "When I've recovered sufficiently, I may teach you a wind jutsu or two." She was caving a lot today—perhaps the drugs were still affecting her? That was the last time she'd ever take any damn painkillers.

Naruto smiled.

"Great… great," the blonde said. He glanced out the window. "It's getting dark; I've got to head back before ero-sennin thinks something's amiss. I left a shadow clone behind to pretend to be me, but I don't wanna risk it."

"Just go," said Satsuki. "I'm not going anywhere."

He grinned nervously. "I'll be back tomorrow, first thing in the morning," he told her. "Don't miss me too much!"

"I won't."

He turned and sprinted to the balcony again. Once more, he leapt—this time taking to the rooftops. He was gone, out of sight within seconds.

Satsuki closed her eyes.

There were a thousand thoughts running through her mind, and she didn't want to acknowledge a single one of them.

After a few moments, sleep claimed her.

And she slept more peacefully than she had in ages.

* * *

A memory from not too long ago, a few months at most. It occurred to Naruto as he sprinted back to where he and Jiraiya were staying.

 _They were seated on a bench, the area around them deserted. The sun beat down on them._

" _Ero-sennin," began Naruto. "Why—I…" He paused. "I've never heard you say your opinion about Satsuki. Not since just before we left the village."_

 _Jiraiya blinked._

 _It'd been one of the first times the blonde had mentioned the last Uchiha since they'd departed Konohagakure._

" _I think you recall my opinion," Jiraiya said. "And it hasn't changed."_

" _I don't mean about whether I should try to rescue her or not… 'cuz I'm gonna do it not matter what you think," Naruto continued. "I meant, like—about why she did it."_

" _What is there to say?" Jiraiya looked at his student. "She did it for power."_

" _I get that," Naruto said. "But I want power too. The power to become Hokage. And yet I'd never even consider something like going to Orochimaru."_

" _You and Satsuki are different people." Jiraiya sighed. "And the circumstances are different, too."_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _Jiraiya stared at the ground._

" _Let me put it like this," he said. "How would you rate becoming Hokage to yourself?"_

" _Well, it's my lifelong dream," Naruto said obviously._

" _It's the most important thing to you, no?" Jiraiya said._

" _Yeah."_

 _Jiraiya nodded. "Let me start this off by saying that I don't condone or support what Satsuki did. Not at all. But to an extent… I understand it."_

 _A garden snake slithered past Jiraiya's foot._

" _What do you mean?" asked Naruto._

" _Becoming Hokage is the most important thing to you, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "And you might compare that goal—and the desire to gain power in order to attain it—to Satsuki's goal of killing her brother."_

" _I would."_

" _That's where you're wrong."_

" _Huh?"_

" _Killing Uchiha Itachi isn't just the most important thing to Satsuki." Jiraiya couldn't look Naruto in the eye._

…

" _It's_ _everything_ _."_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Foreboding ending aside, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. For those craving some action, don't worry. There should be some fun in the near future. You've got to build these kind of things up so they're that much sweeter when they arrive, no?**

 **Thank you for reading. As always, I'd love if you could leave a review on the story, telling me what you think. Each and every review really does help inspire me to write another chapter of this story. If you'd like to get in contact with me, you can go ahead and message me here on FanFiction. I reply to every message I get, so don't think I'll ignore you; any question is accepted.**

 **There's nothing else for me to really discuss here, so I'll bid you farewell. Thanks again for reading, and have an awesome day!**

 **P.S.**

 **For discord users out there, I've a discord to shill here. It's a small, compact FanFiction community dedicated to the discussion of FanFiction reading and writing. Check it out if you wish, it's still new so don't be afraid of not fitting in. Invite code: faEDM6w**


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